Submitted photo: Kayla Polege
Kayla Polege, a Surrey resident with autism, had her scooter stolen last week from Scott Road Station. Polege said the scooter has helped her get around following a few incidents of overstimulation on while taking transit.

B.C. woman with autism has scooter stolen from SkyTrain station

A few months after purchasing a scooter to help her get to work and run errands, Kayla Polege’s scooter was stolen.

Polege, who has autism, said she was on her way to her friend’s place in New Westminster on Sept. 12 when she got a flat tire just before Scott Road Station. She said she called her dad to let him know about the flat, so they could take it to the shop later on.

Polege said she left the scooter tied up for a couple hours at the station, but when she came back, it was gone.

Immediately, Polege said, she saw transit police at the station and reported the stolen scooter. She said transit police told her they would look at cameras and sent out an officer.

“Because with a flat tire, if they were pushing it, they couldn’t have gotten very far.”

The scooter, Polege said, is very important in helping her get around. Polege has autism and she said she has a very hard time taking transit because of overstimulation.

“I’ve had a couple of shutdowns on transit and had to get help from transit police to get home,” Polege said.

After a “really bad experience” a couple months ago, Polege said she’s had enough.

She said she used money she saved up to buy the scooter and put the rest on her credit card.

Since then, Polege said, she’s used the scooter to go to and from work, run errands and go to the autism centre.

“I don’t have to get somebody to take me.”

But with the scooter gone, Polege said she has had to rely on family members to drive her around.

As of Thursday evening (Sept. 20), Polege said she hadn’t had any updates on the scooter.